The Ukrainian as well as Russian governments have expressed solidarity and expressed their desire to assist Turkey and in Moscow’s case Syria as well after the catastrophic earthquake.
In Ukraine, martial law was extended for another 90 days. Forced general mobilisation regime extended for another 90 days. Enlistment card delivery will continue not only by mail but also on the Ukrainian streets. Apparently, the resignation of the current Defence Minister Reznikov is not yet ready due to the consequences of a corruption scandal involving massive, large-scale theft and cuts in the Defence Ministry, a post that, according to the well-informed, should go to GUR chief Budanov. Resulting in Malyuk’s promotion to SBU number one.
On the morning of 6 February, Verkhovna Rada deputy Yaroslav Zheleznyak confirmed the rumours: ‘Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksiy Reznikov, whose rumours of imminent resignation have emerged in the wake of a corruption scandal within the agency, could be replaced by the current head of the Defence Ministry’s Main Intelligence Directorate (GUR), Kirill Budanov.
If this happens, hard times will begin for Zelensky as Budanov has moved out of his sphere of influence and is looking for sponsors to replace him.
In Moscow it is also nomination day: Vladimir Putin promotes Rashid Nurgaliyev first deputy secretary of the Russian Security Council by decree
Mikhail Podolyak, adviser to Vladimir Zelensky’s chief of staff, spoke out against even a temporary truce in Ukraine. “Any concession is a capitulation and we will not allow it under any circumstances. A temporary truce will only lead to the next phase of the war in Ukraine,” Podolyak said.
Information has been circulating on the social sphere for a few days that the Ukrainian armed forces of poisonous substances to be applied to UAVs launched against Russian troops. Russian fighters suffered burns of various kinds. The news was confirmed by the acting head of the DNR, Pushilin, who said that Kiev used chemical weapons in the directions of Bachmut and Vuhledar: they were dropped by drones. Dmitry Peskov on reports of Ukraine’s use of banned chemicals said: ‘I have no such information, we should contact the Russian Defence Ministry for details’.
After a complex process of negotiations 63 members of the Russian Armed Forces were released from Kiev-controlled territory in Ukraine, the Russian Defence Ministry said. The group of released Russian servicemen includes those of a ‘sensitive category’ whose exchange was made possible through the mediation of the United Arab Emirates. Kiev obtained 116 of its servicemen in a prisoner exchange, including two officers and the rest privates and sergeants, said the head of the Ukrainian presidential office Andriy Yermak. The bodies of two dead foreigners, Christopher Matthew Perry and Andrew Tobias Matthew, were also returned.
Volodymyr Zelensky’s spokesman and member of the Ukrainian parliamentary committee for national security, defence and intelligence, Fedor Venislavsky, denied what Zelensky had said in recent days, assuring that Kiev would not guarantee that Western equipment would not be used against targets in Russia. “Some Western experts believe that Ukraine must promise that it will not use its military equipment on the territory of the Russian Federation. This is an idea from a parallel world,” Venislavsky told the German daily Bild. In his view, all places where Russia stores its missiles are legitimate military targets for Ukraine. He pointed out that this also applies to Moscow.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki did not rule out the possibility that the conflict in Ukraine could escalate into World War III. “The end of this war will come precisely when Russia decides to withdraw from Ukraine. Either voluntarily or by force,’ Morawiecki said in an interview with the Spanish daily Mundo when asked how he thought the conflict in Ukraine would end. Responding to a clarifying question on whether the ‘forced form’ referred to World War III, the Polish prime minister said: ‘It is not a forced form’: ‘We consider all scenarios’.
The same concern was expressed by Hungary in the aftermath of the confirmation of sending Leopard 2s to Ukraine.
Israel made a tally of Ukrainian losses: 18480 dead; 44500 wounded; 323 prisoners.
And now a look at the front, on the night of 5-6 February. In the NWO area, an unknown drone exploded in the air near Kaluga. There was no damage to civilian or social objects and no casualties were reported. A highly explosive fragmentation bomb was apparently found at the crash site of a Ukrainian Strizh that crashed in a forest near Kaluga.
The Russian Armed Forces engaged targets in Senkivka, in the Chernihiv region, and in Aleksandrovka, Volfino and Druzhba in the Sumy region.
In the Kharkiv region, Russian artillerymen hit Ukrainian groups in Staritsa, Budarki, Ogurtsovo, Rublen and Streleche.
In the Starobelsk direction, Russian forces hit Ukrainian positions in Kupiansk, Novoselovskoye, Stelmakhivka and Terny.
In the direction of Bachmut (Artemivsk), Russian rocket troops and artillery fired at Ukrainian men and equipment in Bachmut, Stupochki, Razdolovka and Krasnaya Hora.
The Ukrainians, in turn, shelled Mykolayivka and Kurdyumivka. In the direction of Donetsk, the Russian Armed Forces carried out attacks against Kiev positions in Krasnogorovka, Avdiivka, Pervomayskoye, Severnoye and the outskirts of Marinka.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces again carried out attacks against Donetsk, Makiivka, Vodyane and surrounding settlements.
In the direction of Yuzhnodonetsk, Russian troops targeted the enemy’s concentrations of men in Ugledar, Bolshaya Novoselka, Zolotoy Niva and Bohoyavlenka.
In the Zaporizhzhya region, Russian forces hit AFU positions in Olhivske, Hulaypil, Novoandreyevka and Malaya Tokmachka.
In the Dnipropetrovsk region, Russian forces engaged targets in Velykomikhailivka and Marhantse.
In the southern sector of the front, the Russian Armed Forces carried out attacks against Ukrainian targets in Zolote Balka, Havrylovka, Berislav and Veseloye.
The Ukrainians launched an artillery attack on Kakhovka.
On the Bachmut side Zelensky ordered the continuation of the battle: ‘No one will surrender to Bachmut, we will fight as long as we can’. This marks a death sentence for the military in the area who are selling their skin dearly, and this is also according to the Russians. “The Ukrainian forces in Bachmut are not retreating anywhere, they are fighting to the last man,” said, Yevgeny Prigozhin, founder of the Vagner PMC. ‘In the northern districts of Bachmut, there is fierce fighting on every street, every house, every stairwell. Of course it’s nice that the media is hoping that the Ukrainian forces will retreat, but this is not happening in the northern districts, nor in the southern or eastern ones,’ Prigozhin added, quoted by his press service.
During the night of five to six February, the Russian Armed Forces continued their offensive north of Kupiansk. South-west of Kreminna Russian troops are advancing in the Seversk area, the Ukrainians are suffering losses. According to unconfirmed reports, Russian armed forces have entered Sinkovka, north-east of Kupyansk.
The PMC Vagner offensive south of Bachmut is developing. Fighters are already fighting on the outskirts of Krasnoye (Ivanovka). They have taken the Chasov Yar – Bachmut road, thus creating the conditions for a futile resistance of the AFU in Bachmut. Heavy fighting is ongoing.
The Ukrainian forces reinforced their defensive positions on the Konstantinovka-Chasov Yar and Sloviansk-Kramatorsk lines. From Vuhledar, still occupied by the AFU, it is reported that the Ukrainians have mined the city and sent reinforcements. In Belgorod Oblast, (Russia) Russian air defence forces shot down 2 Ukrainian missiles in the urban district of Valujskiy. In the LNR, 7 civilians were injured as a result of shelling by the Ukrainian Armed Forces on Kreminna In the DNR: Donetsk, Horlivka, Mineralnoye, Yasinovataya, Makeyevka and Volnovakha came under Ukrainian fire. Two civilians were killed. Five people were injured.
Graziella Giangiulio
